PEORIA -- Mooseheart is playing Saturday for an Illinois boys basketball state title. But the Red Ramblers’ run is being celebrated from Prince George, British Columbia, to Hialeah, Fla.

Anywhere a lodge of the Loyal Order of Moose exists, so does a piece of Mooseheart.

The more than 200 children who reside at the 1,000-acre Moose-operated community, located along Illinois Route 31 between Batavia and North Aurora, come from about 25 states and 15 countries. They also come from family backgrounds that are far from ideal.

So for those who might gripe about Mooseheart players from Africa and elsewhere playing in the Class 1A championship game against Heyworth, and for those who believe it gives the Red Ramblers an unfair advantage, Ron Ahrens has a message:

Life is unfair. Particularly a lot of these lives.

“I’m not a win-and-loss guy,” said Ahrens, coach of a Mooseheart team that beat Mendon Unity 74-61 in the semifinals Friday. “Our kids have been through so much that a loss in a basketball game is way down on the bottom of what happened in their lives when it comes to losses.

“I think it’s great publicity for our fraternity, and it’s produced a great amount of excitement. Am I going to feel any different if we don’t win the state championship than I feel now? No. I’m excited because our kids are getting the opportunity to compete at a very, very prestigious tournament.”

For Ahrens and others affiliated with Mooseheart, it’s always been about opportunities.

Mooseheart first was established in 1913 as a home for children of deceased men who were Moose members.

That’s more or less how Mooseheart operated until about 20 years ago, when the fraternal organization decided to expand its child-caring mission.

“The admissions committee and board of governors looked at it and said, ‘Are we really serving our greater community if we only help people who happen to be Moose affiliated?’” said Jeff Szymczak, the Mooseheart superintendent and principal. “If we have room, the answer is no.

“We should be helping any kid who comes to our doorstep that we can help.”

Moose lodges, which finance Mooseheart, refer candidates for acceptance. Successful applicants, from infants to high school age, reside in one of 30 buildings that resemble single-family homes.

Groups of six to eight kids, segregated by age and sex, and three teachers – two married, one single – live in each house.

Among those with a house on campus is Ahrens. The Mooseheart director of residential living shares his domicile with his wife, Michaela, and three of their five children. One of their adult daughters, Mandi, is a Mooseheart residential teacher.

Page 2 of 2 - “Our ultimate goal is to make good, young citizens after they leave Mooseheart,” said Ahrens, who has been there since 1999 after he worked at a similar facility – Boys Town, near Omaha, Neb.

“I said I’d stay five years,” Ahrens said. “It’s March 2014, and I’m still here.”

Since 2008, Ahrens also has been the Mooseheart boys basketball coach. By far, this is the most successful the Red Ramblers have been in modern times. Until the early 2000s, Mooseheart hadn’t had a winning season since man first walked on the moon, according to Szymczak.

Mooseheart could come back to earth with a thud next season, once its trio of South Sudanese senior studs is gone. But it appears that prospect might not devastate Ahrens and Szymczak.

“Now that we’re getting success, people are looking at it and saying, ‘Jeez, these kids are not from Illinois, or these kids are not from the Aurora area.’ But they’ve never been,” Szymczak said before the Mooseheart contingent repaired to the Pekin Moose lodge for Friday night supper.

“In our first graduating class, we had one kid from Aurora, three from out of state and one from Canada,” Szymczak said. “That has pretty much been what we’ve been about, helping anyone we need to help. It has nothing to do with sports or other activities.

“We’re just looking to give kids a chance.”

And to give Moose from Maine to Mexico something to celebrate.

NICK VLAHOS is a Journal Star reporter and editor. He can be reached at 686-3285 or nvlahos@pjstar.com. Follow him on Twitter @VlahosNick.